NEVER TO RETURN

NEVER TO RETURN
Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Menusa was the 52nd American to die in Iraq; his story is one of nearly a thousand

Matthew B. Stannard, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, September 5, 2004

Santa Maria, Santa Barbara County -- Joshua Menusa ran giggling across the graveyard grass, gawking at a balloon, tugging at the string connecting it to a headstone not far from that of his father, Marine Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Menusa.

He paused at his father's grave, scanning the words and dates chiseled into the marble: "IRAQ KIA, FEB 13 1970 - MAR 27 2003, PURPLE HEART, LOVING HUSBAND & DADDY." Then the green grass and sunshine beckoned again, and the little boy ran laughing, leaving his father's grave behind.

Eighteen months is an eternity when you're not yet 5 years old, a span that can dull the edge of the sharpest pain.

Eighteen months does not seem so long a time to Stacy Menusa, Joshua's mother.

"It's hard to believe it's been a year and a half," she said. "It feels like yesterday."

more...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/09/05/MNGJE8KA691.DTL




Stacy Menusa is the widow of Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Menusa, the 52nd American killed in the Iraq war. Stacy, with son Joshua, now 4½, and other Northern California families who have lost loved ones are moving on; they will meet in San Francisco to share their experiences in a town hall on Thursday.

Joseph Menusa's battle ribbons too! It sure looks like he has a lot of them, maybe too many huh?

Lets start with that purple heart.

Thank you.:-(

:shrug:

apparently the rest of the damn media doesn't care-this war didn't make us safer-it made us sadder

pages long.
Every dead Afghani or Iraqi should get a page then we could have as many books as an encyclopedia set.
And all the wounded should get a page, then we could have as another encyclopedia set.

Georgie may not read but he sure can write.